The Egyptian Chess grandmaster Dr Bassem Amin continued his very hot streak in chess by winning the 2017 Abu Dhabi Masters chess tournament. Africa’s number one player finished with Masters event with 7,5 points out of a possible 9 points and his rating is now an amazing 2693, just 7 points short of the stratospheric 2700. Amin has proven to be unstoppable in the chess tournaments that he has played in of late. He went through the Abu Dhabi Masters without losing a single game. Out of nine games he won six games and drew three. In second place was Grandmaster Nigel Short with 7 points followed by  several players tied for third with 6,5 points.

A few details about the Abu Dhabi Masters event 

The 24th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival Masters Tournament was organised by the Abu Dhabi Chess & Culture ClubThe 24th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival Masters Tournament was organised by the Abu Dhabi Chess & Culture Club in conjunction with the United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) Federation under the auspices of FIDE. The tournament was hosted by Dusit Thani Hotel in Abu DhabiThe Tournament director was IO Al Khouri Ismaeil E (9300317) ad IA Khoori Tareq M (9304649) with Chief Arbiter IA Saeed Al Khouri (9304371)Arbiter IA Bayat Shohreh, FA Bogdan Garbea (1213733), FA Abdulla Murad (2403757), FA Alkanderi Suad (10300805)The Time control for the tournament was Standard: 90Min per player with an increment of 30Sec from the first move. The Masters Tournament ran from a week from the 14th of August to the 22nd and the average rating in the event was 2360.

Chess Oscar worthy performance

If there was a Chess Oscar to be awarded in Africa then the Doctor would be worthy of one given his performance this year. He is playing with incredible resolve and it seems only one outcome in his tournaments will satisfy him, coming first. It is not only that he is winning tournaments but he is losing very few games in the process. That is a very impressive achievement. He is not just attacking in his games but defending very well when he needs to.

Putting Africa on the map

Dr Bassem Amin’s exploits in chess will certainly have been noticed by the greater chess community. He is putting Africa on the map. We cannot recall a time when an African chess player went on such a winning streak on the international circuit.

Down to the wire in the last round

It came down to the wire in the very last round, around 9 where did Grandmaster Amin faced off against former Challenger to the world crown, the vastly experienced grandmaster Grandmaster Nigel short. Short had the white pieces in a must win game if  he was to take the title. However Grandmaster Amin was able to hold Grandmaster Short to a draw in a tense encounter where both playes seemed to have their chances at some point. The English Grandmaster has shown himself to be a very dangerous adversary who can beat Super GMs on his day. This year he has already accounted for a number of scalps including GM Fabiano Caruana one of the best players in the world. 

Growing collection of silverware

By winning the Abu Dhabi Masters the Egyptian grandmaster adds to his ever- growing collection of silverware from chess tournaments. He was recently victorious in Lake Sevan where there was a strong field and also claimed gold at the Africa individual chess championships which were held in Algeria.

The World Cup in September

Hopefully grandmaster Amin’s rich vein of form will continue right through the World Cup which is taking place in September 2017, just around the corner. Africa’s hopes in the World Cup now rest on the shoulders of Grandmaster Amin and we will be keeping our fingers crossed that the Chess Goddess Caissa continues to be kind to him.

The 2700 club beckons

Very few chess players get to become grandmasters and very few grandmasters get to achieve a rating as high as 2699. Let’s hope that grandmaster Asim continuous with the incredible momentum has shown in the recent chess tournaments to breach the 2700 rating level and join a select few players who have achieved this milestone. Given the way Grandmaster Amin

And now for the games

Games_1_9.pgn

You can also replay the games below.

Update: Grandmaster Dr Bassem Amin’s rating after the tournament is actually 2693,6 after the tournament and not 2699 as previously reported. Thank you Grandmaster Nigel Short for the correction.